Pet Care Tips, Advice and Information

It appears that in a few instances rabies virus has been found in the milk or udder tissue of lactating animals. This subject has been investigated by a number of workers in different parts of the world at various times. The great majority have failed to find the virus of rabies in the milk or in udder tissue. In 1934 the Bureau of Animal Industry conducted some experimental work on this point, since it is important to know whether milk can carry the infection.

The virus of rabies was inoculated into the tongues of two milking cows on different occasions. Samples of milk were taken from these animals during the course of the disease at frequent intervals. In addition, milk from the cistern and udder tissues of the animals was collected at death, and samples were inoculated into the brains of rabbits. All these inoculations resulted negatively. Calf and four pigs were fed the milk taken daily from the two cows from the time of exposure to the virus to the time of death from rabies. The mucous membrane of the mouth of two of the pigs and the calf was scarified frequently, producing minute wounds in the mouthparts, but in no case did these animals show any harmful effects from the consumption of this milk. In further tests, rabies virus in the form of a brain emulsion was added to milk and then fed to hogs. Abrasions were produced mechanically on the mucous surfaces of the mouths of these animals. In no case did the animals show any evidence of rabies. It appears, therefore, from the information available, that although the virus of rabies may at times be found in milk, the chances of such a happening are remote, and from a practical standpoint there would appear to be little danger in the consumption of milk from even a rabid animal. Milk secretion is usually considerably diminished at the clinical appearance of the disease, with the result that in most cases none of the animal’s milk has been consumed after symptoms have appeared. However, the milk from a rabid or suspected cow naturally should be condemned as unfit for consumption.

The same position should be taken with regard to the meat or meat food products of a rabid or suspected animal. The disposition of farm animals that have been exposed to the bites of a rabid dog but do not show signs of the disease also present a practical sanitary police problem. The International Rabies Conference held in Parisian 1927 under the auspices of the Health Committee of the League of Nations made the following recommendation on this point:”Animals bitten by rabid animals, whether, treated or not after the bite, should not be butchered between the eighth day and, at thievery least, the end of the third month following the bite.” Since this may be a problem of considerable importance in areas where rabies exists, the recommendations quoted form a basis for methods of procedure.